Sunderland 3 Tottenham 1: Darren Bent bites back against former club in Stadium of Light thriller

  Crash, bang, wallop,what a fixture. Whereto begin ? WithDarren Bent's twogoals against his oldclub? Or with Bent's twomissed penalties?What about Craig Gordon's vitalsaves at 2-0? Or Peter Crouch'sheader that made a Spurs equaliserfeel probable?  Battle: Kieran Richardson holds off Roman PavlyuchenkoOr Anton Ferdinand'slegal-looking disallowed strike?Or what about Boudewijn Zenden'sVan Basten-like volley that finallysettled it in the 86th minute? There was a charged atmosphereinside the Stadium of Light and ithad an effect. There were no fewerthan 20 efforts on goal, 16 ontarget. There was a corner everyseven-and-a-half minutes.Even when the final whistle hadblown, the day kept coming. Spot on: Bent converts his first penalty, but he missed twoHarryRedknapp was asked about Sunderland buying Alan Hutton,currently on loan. 'I think you willfind Newcastle are in for him as well,'was his mischievous reply.Redknapp did his best to disguisehis frustration at seeing Tottenham'sfive-game winning sequence endedby a player he sold last summer. Buthe knew how significant Bent's twogoals in the opening 29 minutes couldbecome in Tottenham's run-in. Once the FA Cup semi-final againstPortsmouth is over on Sundayevening, Spurs' Champions Leaguechallenge resumes with home gamesagainst Arsenal and Chelsea followedby a trip to Old Trafford. 'We still have a good chance offinishing fourth,' Redknapp said. 'Itis going to be tight. I wouldn't evenwrite Villa off. It is open but we havethe toughest fixtures for sure. Andwe have the biggest injury list.' Redknapp needs defenders back.The centre half partnership ofSebastien Bassong and Younes Kaboulwas shaken early on. The clock abovethe net where Bent opened the scoringshowed 35 seconds. His celebrationin front of Spurs fans was notrestrained. He explained later: 'AfterI scored that first goal it was like achapter of my life is behind me.'  Gutted: Bent missed two penaltiesMATCH FACTS SUNDERLAND (4-4-2): Gordon 8;Ferdinand 6, Turner 7, Da Silva 7,Richardson 8; Henderson 7, Meyler7, Cattermole 6, Malbranque 8(Zenden 79min); Bent 7 (Jones79) Campbell 8 (Bardsley 89). Booked: Cattermole,Malbranque. TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR(4-4-2): Gomes 8;Walker 6, Kaboul 6,Bassong 5, Assou-Ekotto 5 (Kranjcar45, 6); Bentley 5(Defoe 45, 6)Modric 6,Palacios 6, Bale 8;Pavlyuchenko 6(Crouch 71, 7),Gudjohnsen 6. Man of the match: Kieran Richardson. Referee: Lee Mason. Kyle Walker's handball allowed Bentto drill in his second, again joyously,from the spot. Twelve minutes laterand Campbell tumbled into LukaModric and Bent was again facingHeurelho Gomes. As at White HartLane in November, Gomes saved.Jermain Defoe came on at half-timeand Gordon made an excellent stopquickly. But Sunderland have energy.David Meyler, 20, was upended byWilson Palacios just past the hour.Up stepped Bent again. But againGomes saved. Steve Bruce was set toimplode. Four minutes later healmost did, referee Lee Mason rulingout Ferdinand's goal. On came Crouch and in twominutes it was 2-1. Kaboul thencleared a Zenden effort off the line. But relief for Sunderland arrived inZenden's controlled bullet.  Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp: Ignore the idiots, Portsmouth made a profit out of my transfer dealings!Sunderland 3 Tottenham 1: Bent gets revenge over former employers Spurs boss Harry Redknapp faces hot reception on return to Portsmouth 

Source: Daily_Mail